Short Answer: How does the one God have plurality? What does “let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26-27) mean?
In Genesis 1:26-27, we find the account of God creating man in His image and likeness. As we study the Bible, it is essential to keep on reading and pay attention to punctuation like colons and commas, and conjunctions like the words “for,” “but,” and “and.” In verse 27, the word “so” acts as a joining term, indicating that after God’s declaration to “Let us make man in our image,” He ultimately created only one man in His singular image. The plurality of God does not refer to the number of beings, but to the number of His being. One God can BE many things and not cease to be who He is.
It is crucial to understand that when God acts, there remains only one God. This one God can exist in multiple states simultaneously. An analogy can be drawn from the United States, which started with 13 states and now has 50 states (different parts with different appearances), yet it remains one country—united in its singularity and diverse in its plurality.
In Ezekiel 1:6-8 and 10, the cherubims (angels) had four faces—those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. God created numerous angels by simply breathing them out (Psalm 33:6). Though an angel has four faces, when God appears as both God and man simultaneously, people sometimes struggle to comprehend that God can have multiple states of being rather than being a number of separate beings.
The angels in Ezekiel 10:14 also had four faces—cherub, man, lion, and eagle. The face of an ox in Ezekiel 1:10 is referred to as the face of a cherub in Ezekiel 10:14. This highlights that angels can appear as both man and cherub simultaneously, just as God, who created them, can appear as both God and man at the same time. This understanding emphasizes the oneness of God while acknowledging the manifold ways in which He can manifest His divine nature.
Scripture Outline:
- Gen. 1:26-27 – “26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… 27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him…”
- A good rule when studying the Bible is to keep on reading
- If you see a colon (:) don’t stop because the explanation is yet to come
- If you see the words for, but, or and (conjunctions) keep reading
- v. 27 starts with the word “so” – a joining term
- When the “us” of God got finished, He ended up making just one man in His singular image
- The plurality of God has nothing to do with the number of beings but with the number of God being
- When God does something, it’s still just one being, one God
- That one God can be in multiple states even at the same time
- Ex. The United States started as 13 states and now has 50 but still is one country
- United – one, singularity
- States – plurality
- Ezek. 1:6-8, 10 the Cherubims all had four faces
- Every angel (Cherub) God made had four faces – man, lion, ox, and eagle
- When God made the whole host of heaven He just breathed them out (Psa. 33:6) – He blew and a thousand times a thousand times ten thousands and ten thousands angels were made by God
- Though an angel has four faces, when God shows up as a man and something else at the same time people have an issue and think God is a number of beings instead of having multiple states of beings
- Ezek. 10:14 angels had four faces – cherub, man, lion, eagle
- Face of an ox in Ezek. 1:10 is a face of a cherub in Ezek. 10:14
- These angels appear as a man and a cherub at the same time; the God who made them can appear as God and man at the same time
